Days 20 & 21
When Janelle asked if I would like to do the mount Batur trek I almost immediately said no. I thought there's no way I can do that. I'm not in the best shape and I was never made out to hike a volcano in the Bali heat. Somehow on Saturday afternoon I was in the back of a van with my backpack headed to the base of Mount Batur. What have I gotten myself into? Our driver took us through the village that he lives in at the base of the volcano. We were on the bumpiest dirt road I've ever seen, driving past farm lands growing onion, chilis, eggplant and tomatoes. It felt like little house on the prairie with all of the little farm houses and fields of crops. He showed us his house and we waved to his wife and kids as we drove past. He then stopped and said okay we start here. Right on the middle of the village! We got out and walking up behind us was Radia, our guide. Radia climbs Mount Batur twice a day. Talk about being in shape. He gave us trekking poles and a water bottle and said okay here we go! When we started off we were walking past vines of tomatoes. He picked a few and said that we will have them for breakfast the next day. The beginning of the hike was like walking through the woods at home. It was shaded and the ground was dirt and rocks. After about fifteen minutes we broke past the tree layer into the open air. The sun was hot but we had a breeze the whole time. Sometimes it felt as though we were climbing straight up like a mountain goat. Each step was either on large lava rocks, or through gravel that slipped you back down to where you started. Theresa was having a really difficult time breathing so we had to stop a lot. I was surprising myself with how well I was doing. I walked in the front the entire way to set the pace, which was still pretty slow, but every time we stopped I wanted to get going again. Towards the top of the volcano, the path turned into black sand. If you've ever tried to climb a sand dune this is exactly how that was. It was quite literally two steps forward one step back. My legs felt like jello and my lungs felt like they were going to explode. I looked up and peaking through the clouds was our hut. The guide said come on Wonder Woman! I stepped up onto the top camp site and dropped my poles and backpack. I looked over the edge and saw the deep cavern and a huge gust of hot volcanic steam blew up over my head. I sat down and a few tears streamed down my face. I've never experienced seeing something to immense and beautiful in my life. The clouds seemed to move so much faster up here. The air was crisp and clean. The crater in the center of the volcano wasn't what I expected. It was filled with tall grass and giant boulders of lava rock. Down through the canyon at the base, you could see about a mile radius of just blackness. Radia said that's where the lava spilled from the last eruption. You can see it in one of the pictures above. The entire top of the volcano was a thin ridge that circled around the crater of the volcano. It was a path about 5 feet wide and on either side was a drop straight down. No guard rails were anywhere to be seen so Radia was very adamant to get off our phones while walking. As the sun began to set, the clouds seemed to be moving in slow motion. As if they were waiting for the sunset too. We sipped our hot chocolate as the chill came whipping through the cavern and the sun was setting. Everything around us turned orange as if the volcano was on fire. After the sun went down we warmed our selves with the natural steam coming from the rocks alongside the ridge. Our guides friend trekked up a bit behind us with the tent and camp gear so once he arrived he set up our tent as Radia and his eight year old son made us dinner. We sat in a hut made of metal sheets and wood that blocked the wind, wrapped in blankets sipping on our cabbage and carrot soup. Dinner was amazing. We had sticky rice and fried chicken way better than any KFC in the states. The three of us got settled in our tent but all had to go to the bathroom before we went to bed. The sh*t hole was a very scary walk around the corner of our tent. So by moonlight we all laughed as we tried to not pee downhill on each other. Janelle and I did our business but as Theresa had her pants around her ankles Radia comes around the corner and Theresa runs. All we see is her glowing butt in the moonlight with her toothbrush in her mouth. I bet the people at the base heard Janelle and I laughing because of how loud we were cackling. Sleeping in the tent was probably the worst nights sleep I've ever had. It was very cold and very windy all night. I also kept thinking that the monkeys were going to smell my protein bar and open the tent so that kept me up too. In the morning around 5am, I woke up to hear all of the sunrise trekking people arriving. I unzipped the tent and looked out over the edge of the cliff to see the red sun rising. It was a glowing giant circle before it broke past the clouds. Monkies and people all filled the wooden benches as Radia and his son sold coffee and hot chocolate for the sunrise trekkers. I sat outside of the tent with my banana sandwich and hot chocolate watching the sun come up over Mount Agung in the distance. At 6am the morning prayer rung out throughout the village at the base. The prayer sounds like a man chanting with some kind of eastern horn. It was such a surreal feeling to be able to watch the sun rise above the clouds. I liked to think that I was the first one to touch the sun that morning in Bali.
Bali keeps me on my toes every day. I find myself doing things I never thought I could do. It's taught me to appreciate what my body can do once I allow it to. I've also learned to take in moments without a camera in my hand every second. Sometimes you just have to take things for yourself and let the world go see it for thmselves. Nature is far more powerful than you can imagine. God has truly blessed me by bringing me to its peak.